Genetically Modified Clostridium for Gene Therapy of Tumors

Many murine and human tumors contain hypoxic or necrotic regions in which the oxygen tension is abnormally low. For example,>50% of primary tumors of the breast, cervix, and head and neck contain areas that are hypoxic. Because hypoxic regions are not present in normal tissue, this provides the potential for selectively targeting gene therapy to tumor cells.